Software Reviews – AndroidSPINhttp://androidspin.com
Google Android News, Phones and Tablets, Software and hardware reviews and moreTue, 29 Nov 2016 19:29:58 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.5Splendor Review: Days of Wonder’s latest game hits Androidhttp://androidspin.com/2015/07/09/splendor-review-days-of-wonders-latest-game-hits-android/
http://androidspin.com/2015/07/09/splendor-review-days-of-wonders-latest-game-hits-android/#commentsThu, 09 Jul 2015 14:00:19 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=165864Days of Wonder knows a thing or two about making board games – you may have heard of Ticket to Ride and Smallworld, both great games made by Days of Wonder that we have enjoyed in both physical and digital forms. Their latest game, Splendor, is a card game that was released in 2014 to […]

Days of Wonder knows a thing or two about making board games – you may have heard of Ticket to Ride and Smallworld, both great games made by Days of Wonder that we have enjoyed in both physical and digital forms. Their latest game, Splendor, is a card game that was released in 2014 to critical acclaim – over 20,000 copies have sold alreadyÂ -Â and it was announced not long ago that a version would be arriving on Android and iOS in the summer. Well, we’ve been playing the Android version of Splendor for the last few days, and we’re going to give our thoughts on how the game translates into digital form this time.

Splendor is set in the renaissance where prestige is everything – both figuratively and literally. The end point ofÂ Splendor is to amass 15 Prestige Points, which doesn’t sound like much, but when you really get into the mechanics of the game, it’s actually a relatively daunting task. The game is played with one set of cards between all players -Â Splendor can be played with between 2 and 4 players. There is a communal pool of cards and a communal pool of gems – with this established, you are able to do 3Â things each turn:

Collect gemsÂ (either 3 different colours or 2 of the same colour)

Buy a card

Reserve a card

Again, the moves seem simple, but can be used to either further yourself or rather fiendishly hamper your opponent’s plans. That’s basically the rules ofÂ Splendor, which are explains through a tutorial when you first play through a game, however compared to the spoken and thematic tutorials featured in the digital versions of Ticket to Ride and Smallworld 2, the silentÂ tutorial ofÂ Splendor felt a little lacking. To give an example of this, points of emphasis during the tutorial were highlighted with a twinkle in the game’s text which could easily missed – a simple arrow or circling the emphasized area would have been more effective in this instance.

With the game mechanics down pat, you can put your skills to the test in several different modes – the standard game, which can be played against up to 3 AIs, or against 3 local players in a “pass-and-play” format, or there is aÂ challenge mode. If the standard game is getting a little stale, the challenge mode is a good way to mix it up as each scenario will impose a different set of rules and modifiers on you to try and win e.g. try to win in a certain number of turns. For the completionists, there are also a number of in-game achievements which can be earned from within the different game modes. Quite obviously missing, however, is an online multiplayer mode – it has been promised that this will be added in a future update though, but it makes the game seem a little incomplete compared to Ticket to Ride and Smallworld 2 which both had online capabilities at launch.

The AI inÂ SplendorÂ is pretty good – each AI player can be given an attribute like “Opportunistic” which in theory makes them play a little more aggressively. I wasn’t able to see much of a difference between the different players, but the game is a challenge to read at the best of times. Speaking of reading, the look of the game is great also – Splendor is a simple game so everything runs fluidly and looks good. Menus are clearly laid out, though I will say that the cursive font that has been chosen for the game is a little difficult to read sometimes.

Overall, Splendor is a solid and faithful representation of its physical version, however there are a host of niggling omissions – a spoken tutorial and online multiplayer, for instance – which make Splendor feel a little incomplete. For fans of the game, this game is pretty much exactly what you are looking for – for newcomers, there’s a bit of a learning curve, but you’ll grasp the game fairly quickly.Â However for all players, your long term relationship on the game could be limited unless you have friends to play this with in person and you’ll need to fork out $6.99 USD for the pleasure. If Splendor is the type of game that strikes your fancy, you can hit the Play Store links below:

]]>http://androidspin.com/2015/07/09/splendor-review-days-of-wonders-latest-game-hits-android/feed/2Leo’s Fortune Review: An absolute platforming/adventure Treasurehttp://androidspin.com/2014/07/30/leos-fortune-review-absolute-platformingadventure-treasure/
http://androidspin.com/2014/07/30/leos-fortune-review-absolute-platformingadventure-treasure/#commentsWed, 30 Jul 2014 10:24:25 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=152627Platforming games are a dime a dozen these days. With each passing week, a new platformer is released though many of them fail to inspire the kind of engagement that platformers of old, like Sonic the Hedgehog or the Mario Bros, have achieved. Leo’s Fortune, though, is one new platformer that I think does have […]

Platforming games are a dime a dozen these days. With each passing week, a new platformer is released though many of them fail to inspire the kind of engagement that platformers of old, like Sonic the Hedgehog or the Mario Bros, have achieved. Leo’s Fortune, though, is one new platformer that I think does have what it takes to stand out from the swathes of generic clones, so let’s see what exactly is different.

The premise of Leo’s Fortune is simple: you play as Leopold, who is chasing the thieves you have stolen his fortune. Luckily, the thieves have left a trail of coins for Leo to follow, but to do so, must traverse various challenging landscapes. Throughout the game, there will be cut-scenes and exposition from Leo to flesh out the narrative, and while it is mostly pretty vague, does give you at least a sense of how important the “fortune” is that you and Leo are chasing after.

The game is structured in chapters, each subsequent chapter progresses the story. The good thing about Leo’s Fortune is that there are no IAPs to speak of, so the price of entry is all you have to worry about and all the content you paid for is there.

Playing as Leo, who can most accurately be described as a Tribble from Star Trek with cartoony eyes, you traverse the side-scrolling landscape by way of sliding, jumping, floating and dropping to get around obstacles and avoid traps. The default control scheme in Leo’s Fortune let’s you control Leo’s lateral (side-to-side) movement with your left thumb and vertical movement with your right thumb. It’s a pretty intuitive system that is easy to pick up and very forgiving. If that’s not your cup of tea, there are also on screen buttons and also gamepad compatibility, but I never found the need to explore those as I was perfectly happy with the default controls.

The graphics are easily the highlight of Leo’s Fortune. Chief among the visuals is the detail put into Leo’s model; whatever he is doing, his mop of short hair follows, whether he is sliding around or inflated to float away from danger. This is complimented by absolutely fantastic level design and background landscapes, all of which differ from chapter to chapter, giving each chapter a distinct theme and follows the story laid out by Leo’s exposition.

A close second to the visuals of Leo’s Fortune are the sound effects and music. The background music that plays while you are traversing the various landscapes is majesty and moving, really giving a sense of journey and purpose, and absolutely fits the game without being distracting or overly intrusive. The second part of this is Leo’s voice, which is a fantastic, Russian-accented man’s voice who is somehow just perfect for delivering exposition. During platforming sections, Leo will also make hesitant noises as difficult sections approach and triumphant sounds when you get past said sections, really making him an endearing part of the game.

Leo’s Fortune is right up there with my other favourite mobile platformers, Rayman Jungle Run and Type:Rider, as it really covers all the bases that you need covered from an enthralling platformer. The gameplay is varied and challenging, the characterÂ isÂ loveable, the graphics are top notch and the soundtrack is fantastic. It may cost $4.99, but if there’s one platformer you should get in 2014, it should be Leo’s Fortune.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2014/07/30/leos-fortune-review-absolute-platformingadventure-treasure/feed/11849 Quick Review: A charming, little old Western resource management Gamehttp://androidspin.com/2014/06/29/1849-quick-review-charming-little-old-western-resource-management-game/
http://androidspin.com/2014/06/29/1849-quick-review-charming-little-old-western-resource-management-game/#commentsSun, 29 Jun 2014 07:56:41 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=151769I miss Railroad Tycoon; the game epitomized resource management more than any other game I have played since then, and there haven’t been many games that have even bothered to explore such mechanics. Thankfully, 1849 intends to somewhat take on that mantle with a charming Western vibe, except without the trains.Â You join America just as […]

I miss Railroad Tycoon; the game epitomized resource management more than any other game I have played since then, and there haven’t been many games that have even bothered to explore such mechanics. Thankfully, 1849 intends to somewhat take on that mantle with a charming Western vibe, except without the trains.Â You join America just as gold has been discovered in California and you will take on various missions around Western America and at each location will be given objectives to meet. To do so, you’ll generally need to build up your allotted establishment from basically nothing to a mostly thriving town. First comes the people who can become works, then a lumber mill, a trading post, and so on and so forth. Soon, you’ll need to trade with nearby towns to help reach your resource targets. There are 20 cities in Campaign mode which will have you start from humble beginnings to try and make them into bustling towns.

1849 eases you into the game fairly easily, though the menu can still be a bit daunting to navigate due to the slightly arbitrary nature of the button appearances; that’s nothing you can’t get used to though. The gameplay itself is very easy to pick up with half the game being placing buildings and the other half waiting; the placing of buildings is made significantly easier thanks to touch optimized controls.

As you progress, the towns to get a little bigger, however they seem to plateau at some point with very similar objectives in each level. If there’s only one complaint about 1849, it is that it is more of a town-building, rather than a city-building game. While some of the towns can get pretty big, it never quite captures the scale of Railroad Tycoon or SimCity. One other thing that is striking in a comparison to these older games is the relatively simple objectives that are needed to be completed; it seems a little forgiving to end a level after completing just a few objectives rather than trying to see how long you can keep a town profitable, as many management games are known to do.

Despite this, I find 1849 absolutely charming; I’m a big fan of their chosen art design and I think it really adds to the whole theme of the game. The people and buildings look fantastic and well appropriated for such a compact game, and I think it makes good use of the screen space for menus (when you can interpret them).

Overall, 1849 is a solid game; it has a good few hours of fun for management game fans and it looks fantastic. Unfortunately, it is a little simplistic, which may turn off veterans and purists of the genre. And then comes the price. At $4.99 USD, 1849 is not a cheap game for something that lasts a few hours and has a visible endgame. For that kind of money, I would have also expected better support for the game with multiple complaints on the Play Store about Google+ logins still not addressed for over 3 weeks; that however, may be a bit of a petulant observation. Having said all that though, if you are hankering for some management-style games, 1849 is definitely one to take a look at, as it gets the job done and looks great.

If you want to take a look at 1849, you can visit itsÂ Play Store page from the link below.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2014/06/29/1849-quick-review-charming-little-old-western-resource-management-game/feed/1Draw A Box Review: Who knew drawing squares could be so Addictive?http://androidspin.com/2014/06/14/draw-box-review-knew-drawing-squares-addictive/
http://androidspin.com/2014/06/14/draw-box-review-knew-drawing-squares-addictive/#respondSun, 15 Jun 2014 01:44:26 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=150906I don’t typically consider myself to have an addictive personality, however some games just get me hooked. The innocuously named “Draw A Box” game is one of these, and it has occupied far too much of my own time already to divulge exactly how much time. However, I do want to share some of my […]

I don’t typically consider myself to have an addictive personality, however some games just get me hooked. The innocuously named “Draw A Box” game is one of these, and it has occupied far too much of my own time already to divulge exactly how much time. However, I do want to share some of my thoughts and experiences with the game by InJoy Labs. The premise of Draw A Box is insanely simple: you must try to draw a perfect square around the monsters shown on your screen. The more times you are able to do this in a row, the higher your score will be. However, while the concept is simple, actually doing it is actually quite nerve racking. To be successful you must draw your square to within 97% accuracy of a perfect square. Of course, while explaining the game’s premise, the game gives you a few guided trialÂ attemptsÂ to see exactly how accurate you’ll have to be to pass.

Actually doing this in the game is possibly the most intense thing I have done in a game for some time; whereas you have a guide during the training that lets you know when to stop, trying to figure out where to stop in the game is very hard. Thankfully, there is no time limit at all in this game, so really you’re at the mercy of your own compulsive and obsessive tendencies, and can potentially lead to some pretty excruciating gaming sessions which will inevitably lead you to this screen:

It’s not all in the name of self-flagellation however; your high scores are recorded on a leaderboard which includes all your Facebook friends playing the game, should you choose to log in. Furthermore, if you feel like sharing your new found high score, you can always do so at the “Game Over” page.

There is also an added incentive to get good at Draw A Box; there are ‘stages’ in Draw A Box, which come after a predetermined number of successful boxes, indicated in the top right of the game screen. Once this threshold is reached, a monster with a different design becomes available and can be viewed on the title page with eight in total to be unlocked.

Overall, I’m a big fan of Draw A Box. I really, really like the unique, cartoonish design of the game, and although it’s simple, it’s very well put together and fluid in every action and menu. I actually prefer Draw A Box far more to Flappy Bird in that it feels a lot more like failing at it has more to do with your skills rather than the infuriating strictures of the game mechanics. It’s a subtle difference, but this led me to have far more fun with Draw A Box, and I definitely recommend you try it out too.

Draw A Box is free on the Google Play Store, so if you’re looking for a simple game with which to burn some time, make sure to hit the Play Store links below.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2014/06/14/draw-box-review-knew-drawing-squares-addictive/feed/0[GAME REVIEW] Fly Catbug Fly!: The 2D endless runner game based on Bravest Warriorshttp://androidspin.com/2014/04/14/game-review-fly-catbug-fly-2d-endless-runner-game-based-bravest-warriors/
http://androidspin.com/2014/04/14/game-review-fly-catbug-fly-2d-endless-runner-game-based-bravest-warriors/#respondTue, 15 Apr 2014 04:10:47 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=146865One of my favorite animation series on YouTube, Bravest Warriors, has made their own game. The animation is based sometime in the future and it follows four teenagers on their adventures. One of the characters has many pets and this game is based on the one named Catbug. Catbug is one of the most adorable […]

One of my favorite animation series on YouTube, Bravest Warriors, has made their own game. The animation is based sometime in the future and it follows four teenagers on their adventures. One of the characters has many pets and this game is based on the one named Catbug. Catbug is one of the most adorable characters I enjoy to watch. Yes I, a grown man just proudly admitted that.

Description

The game, Fly Catbug Fly!, is a 2D endless runner based on the YouTube animation series Bravest Warriors. You play one of the Bravest Warriors’ pet Catbug as he flies around collecting items that he can later sell for power ups or costumes that can be mixed and matched to your liking.

The Bravest Warriors is created by Pendleton Ward. “Who is that” you ask? Well, he is also famous for an animation on Cartoon Network called Adventure Time with Finn and Jake. If you still don’t know what that is at this point that means you have some research to do. But not now; you still need to finish reading this.

All of the games locations, items that are collected and some of the music are based on the first two seasons of the Bravest Warriors. Even what Catbug says throughout the game is dialogue straight out of the series.

My Thoughts

This game is no different then other 2D runners, however that does not mean it is not fun. Even though it really does not innovate the genre I find it enjoyable because it is a casual game based on the series I enjoy watching. If you are not a fan of the series or don’t know what it is I still feel it can be enjoyed if you like the genre.

What I truly appreciate about the game is that it does not have any freemium or “pay-to-win” mechanics. Every power up or costume item I buy is paid through grinding which brings a sense of accomplishment. If you suck at the game you will continue to do so until you can afford that power up. There are also no in app purchases; if you want an item it is all bought through in game currency that you have to earn the hard way.

My few dislikes of the game would be since it is new it still has bugs to work out. Another dislike I have is when you die Catbug lets out a soul crushing scream. I feel like regardless of how long I will play this game I will never get used to that scream.

Conclusion

If you are a fan of the series I truly think this would be something that can be enjoyed. It does not adopt any of the negative features that plague games of a similar genre. It even offers Google Play Games services to compete against your friends or other players. The game has a launch sale for half off ($0.99 USD), so in case you’re still on the fence about the game, pick it up before you have to pay that extra dollar.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2014/04/14/game-review-fly-catbug-fly-2d-endless-runner-game-based-bravest-warriors/feed/0First Strike on Android Review: the nuclear war game that you feel guilty for Lovinghttp://androidspin.com/2014/04/09/first-strike-android-review-nuclear-war-game-really-shouldnt-enjoying-anyway/
http://androidspin.com/2014/04/09/first-strike-android-review-nuclear-war-game-really-shouldnt-enjoying-anyway/#commentsWed, 09 Apr 2014 12:37:52 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=146377There’s something weirdly addictive about games to do with the end of the world, or maybe that’s just me. From the indie PC classic Defcon to Plague Inc. on mobile, I find these types of games incredibly hard to put down once I’ve started playing. That’s exactly been the case with First Strike, Feinheit kreativ […]

There’s something weirdly addictive about games to do with the end of the world, or maybe that’s just me. From the indie PC classic Defcon to Plague Inc. on mobile, I find these types of games incredibly hard to put down once I’ve started playing. That’s exactly been the case with First Strike, Feinheit kreativ studio’s first game, which involves the amassing of nuclear weapons in a race to destroy other global superpowers before they destroy you. Rather ironically, and probably a good thing for people who find it hard to play a game about Mutually Assured Destruction, is that a quarter of all revenue from the game will be contributed to help reduce nuclear weapons around the world through ICAN and Green Cross Switzerland; who said being bad couldn’t be good too?

To start playing, you will pick a nation to play (which will have an associated difficulty), and pick the number of enemies you’ll be playing against. Naturally, increasing the number will increase the chance that you will succumb to a nuclear end, but that’s all part of the fun. After this, you will be given control of a small number of regions where you will have bases at; each base can perform several tasks like build nuclear warheads, research new technologies, or expand to adjacent regions. All of these actions require time and as your actions become more powerful and more lucrative, their creation time will also increase.

Depending on what warheads are stored at each regional base, you will also be able to perform offensive and defensive actions. If for instance a nuke is launched towards you, a cruise missile can be launched to intercept it, nullifying it. Offensively, you can choose to launch a single rocket, or once you’ve stockpiled enough missiles, you can perform a ‘First Strike’ which launches all missiles that you possess that are within range of your target. Obviously at first your range will be quite limited, but research some key technologies and the whole world opens up.

The game effectively becomes a game of cat and mouse at this point, with missiles flying everywhere and trying to figure out when is best to attack and when is best to sit back and defend. So far in my experience, the AI is quite ruthless, regardless of the difficulty, and you’ll need to stay on your toes not to get bombed off the face of the planet.

The game plays incredibly simply; the globe is easily explored by swiping around, zooming in and out is as easy as pinching and controlling your regions is extremely easy with a series of touches. The interface is often a series of interconnected circles, which not only looks great, but makes for a really simple interface. On a smaller screen, like that of my Moto G, the buttons can get a little small, but I never had any issues with pressing the wrong buttons at any time. The one thing that is a little annoying on smaller screens is the text in-game can be positively tiny. There’s probably not much that can be done seeing as how crowded some menu’s can get, like the technology web, but be prepared to have to read the on-screen text very closely.

And that’s First Strike. There’s no convoluted story or needless things to collect; you just fire missiles, win or lose, then rinse and repeat. I had a ball playing First Strike, though it pains me a little that there’s no multiplayer in the game as it would have been fantastic. All the same, it’s a fantastic, beautiful, well-made game, and though it does cost $3.99, it’s sure to keep you addicted and coming back for more. If you’re interested, you can pick up First Strike at the Play Store links below.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2014/04/09/first-strike-android-review-nuclear-war-game-really-shouldnt-enjoying-anyway/feed/1Small World 2 Review: the popular board game finally makes it way onto Androidhttp://androidspin.com/2014/02/09/smallworld-2-review-popular-board-game-finally-makes-way-onto-android/
http://androidspin.com/2014/02/09/smallworld-2-review-popular-board-game-finally-makes-way-onto-android/#commentsSun, 09 Feb 2014 11:21:06 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=134416As board games continue their resurgence into mainstream consciousness, more and more board games are finding their way onto mobile platforms, being expressed as well as they can be on small and big screens. Days of Wonder is one publisher who has only recently joined this effort of bringing its library of games to mobile […]

As board games continue their resurgence into mainstream consciousness, more and more board games are finding their way onto mobile platforms, being expressed as well as they can be on small and big screens. Days of Wonder is one publisher who has only recently joined this effort of bringing its library of games to mobile but looked to be quite successful with its release of Ticket to Ride on both iOS and Android (read our review here). Now they’ve released Small World 2 on mobile as a result of their successful Kickstarter campaign to fund its development, and while it was released for iOS back in September 2012, it’s good to see it finally arrive on Android as well.

Fans of the board game won’t need much introduction to the concept of the game, but for those of you who haven’t played Small World before, whether in physical or digital forms, the primary objective of the game is resource collection. To start the game, you get to pick a character card which will define your characteristics (for now) i.e. any bonuses and/or restrictions your character has and how many tokens you can place per turn. On your turn, you get to place tokens on designated regions on the board. Depending on what region you have selected, you may be required to use more or less of your tokens if someone is occupying the region or your character card has some effect on the type of region you have selected. In this way, you can take over as many regions as you have tokens, and when you run out for this turn, your turn ends. At this point, you get coins added to your stash, 1 for every region you possess plus any bonuses you have; these coins will serve as scoring at the end of the game, but the game cleverly hides this information from you so that you have to constantly be on guard.

As added strategy, you can “go into decline”; what this means for you is that your character card is essentially disposed of (unless there is a bonus associated with this action) and while you can keep the regions that you currently possess, they’ll only count as one token occupying each region. On your next turn however, you can pick a new character card with all new bonuses, and this can serve as a really good strategy if you are familiar with the types of cards that are in the game.

The game does offer a very short tutorial video which is both thematic and informative, however, it does lack in actual strategic guidance, a fact I realised on my first play through with in-game bots. On that note, the bots’ AI in the game appears to be more than competent and should be quite a challenge for those that understand the game well. Unfortunately, I have yet to win a game, partially from my own inexperience, but also because I haven’t found any sort of difficulty settings for the bots. Perhaps it’s unnecessary, but I found it to be an extremely steep learning curve playing against basically Small World geniuses.

A just want to interrupt this review with a disclaimer for everyone who’s here to read this review because they’re a fan of Small World and want to know whether it’s like the board game: Small World 2 is pretty much what you’d want from a mobile version of the Small World board game. I’m not 100% familar with the rules, but it seems like most things have been implemented properly and the games offers a plethora of ways for you to enjoy the game alone, with friends, or with a group of other board game enthusiasts. If that’s your concern, then the only other thing you have to worry about is paying the not-insignificant price of $9.99 on Google Play. Fans of the game will throw money at the game anyway, but that’s just for your reference.

Just returning to the ways that you can play the game, you can of course enjoy the game solo in the company of the game’s more than competent bots, or you can play local games, with numbers of players ranging from 2-5, all playing from the same device. For something a little less personal, there are also plenty of multiplayer options including internet online play, playing with your friends, or local play, but on separate devices. As with many of Days of Wonder board games, if you’re wanting to extend your Small World 2 experience, there are also expansions available from within the game for purchase and they will set you back anywhere from $2.99 to $4.99 USD.

I reviewed Small World 2 playing on a smartphone, albeit a Samsung Galaxy Note 2, and I found the gameplay experience to be acceptable; there are times that things on the screen, particularly token stack count, that can seem positively tiny. It’s definitely a very busy board as well with lots to keep track of, and I would say that a smaller screened device would not be ideal for playing Small World 2. Likewise, the text and some of the bonuses on the character cards can be difficult to interpret and often the only way to figure out what’s going on is to consult the in-game manual. This obviously isn’t that much of an issue for veteran players, but it’s worth considering if you’re entering the Small World 2 foray.

Rating: 4/5

Small World 2 is pretty much everything you expected, whether you’ve been following its Kickstarter from the campaign launch or if you’re only discovering it now; for Small World fans and veterans, the entry fee of $9.99 is but a pittance and the game is well made, has plenty of features to cater for you and how you want to play the game. For beginners, the learning curve is steep and the small text size and game icons probably don’t help in that respect, plus the $9.99 price-tag can be a bit off-putting if you’re not going to be sinking many hours into it, but there is a fun game to be had if you’re playing with others or even practicing alone. If you’re interested in picking Small World 2 up, you can find the Play Store links below, or you can visit the Days of Wonder website for more information about all their board games exploits.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2014/02/09/smallworld-2-review-popular-board-game-finally-makes-way-onto-android/feed/2Decromancer Review: A New Deck-Building Card Game Comes To Androidhttp://androidspin.com/2013/12/21/decromancer-review-deck-building-card-game-comes-android/
http://androidspin.com/2013/12/21/decromancer-review-deck-building-card-game-comes-android/#respondSun, 22 Dec 2013 01:40:08 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=123848Those of you who have read some of my game reviews before will know that I’m a sucker for all kinds of tabletop games: card games, board games, any other games as long as they have cards, dice and minatures, I get all giddy and childish. So when I heard about Decromancer after developer UNIT9 […]

Those of you who have read some of my game reviews before will know that I’m a sucker for all kinds of tabletop games: card games, board games, any other games as long as they have cards, dice and minatures, I get all giddy and childish. So when I heard about Decromancer after developer UNIT9 approached me advertising a “Battle Card RPG”, I got excited to hear to a true deck-building card game was coming to Android.

For those who don’t know what a deck-building card game (DBCG) Â is, it’s essentially a game where either at the start of the game or over the progression of the game, you acquire cards to go in your deck of cards in the hopes that what you have will prepare you for the game ahead. There are a handful of hybrid DBCGs out there, like the new Injustice game which features deck-building with a side of real-time fighting action, but by and large most of these don’t really make the deck building a focus of the game, something Decromancer aims to do.

The story of Decromancer is a basic one. You find yourself in command of a ship that has recently run aground and your mission is to protect the Necromancer diplomat that is now stranded with you. In true game form, you will need to forge a path through the uncertain terrain, making deals with various parties to help reinforce your ranks while you prepare to push further through the unknown. This aspect of the story cleverly masks the deck-building that is required to progress through the game though sometimes it feels a little contrived as you merely recruit the newest card available to you as opposed to one that you feel suits your deck the best.

Travelling through the world map-style landscape is a joy as everything appears to have been hand drawn, right down to the details on tents and pirate ships. It’s delightfully impressive and relieving to know that there are studios out there who are still willing to embrace the hand drawn, personal, 2D touch over 3D models and flashy graphics. You control a rearing horse figurine on the world map who’s move speed depends on whether it’s on a road or off the beaten path. Even on the road, you move at a rather relaxing speed, though there is a chance to speed things up for a price; more on that later.

If there is any doubt that Decromancer was ever a DBCG, that will be dispelled when you enter a battle where the card game mechanics of the game are laid bare. The gameplay plays out in a turn-based battle where your opponent will always go first playing cards and you will play your cards to counter, and so forth. Each card will have an attack, defence and health value which will determine how effective they are in battle. Possibly more important that this is the positioning of your cards as while you are only allowed 10 cards on the field at a time, each card will have a specific attack range or area of effectiveness. This makes it particularly important to be aware of what your cards are capable and when to make strategic decisions. Furthermore, as you progress through the game, you will also gain access to spells which will have varied effects on the battle depending on which you get.

Battles can be decided either by defeating all enemy cards played or by depleting your enemies morale points. Most battles will end from morale points being depleted, however there will be battles that are specifically constrained to only defeating the enemy cards to win; these are easily the most difficult battles I have encountered so far. Winning a battle will net you XP, gold and a boost to your morale and summon points which will be invaluable in future battles.

All in all, the gameplay of Decromancer is compelling enough for you to want to keep playing and improve your deck. The most tedious part of the game is probably the travelling between two points as they can usually be quite far apart and as a result of your slow moving figurine, this process can become a grind. To mitigate this, there are shards, which along with gold coins, form the two currencies in the game. Gold is what you will use to purchase cards, upgrades and spells whereas shards will be used for purchasing more permanent upgrades like deck size and should you choose, instantly teleporting to your destination. While gold is quite easy to come across, large amounts of shards are not and as a result (or rather, by design), shards can be purchased for real-world money as an in-app purchase; gold too can be bought for real money if you should feel so inclined.

As I mentioned before, the art style featured throughout the game, especially the world map, appears to be 2D, hand drawn goodness which I think is easily the highlight of the game. It’s further enhanced by the ‘fog of war’ which exists where you haven’t explored yet and shimmers on the edges almost like ink or water. The areas that you haven’t explored yet will appear as an almost paper-like texture which fits in with the whole mystical, fantasy theme of Decromancer.

The majority of Decromancer is presented extremely well: we’ve already covered the delightful graphics and the sound and music in the game is appropriately themed and unobtrusive. Some of the text however can be positively tiny, even when viewed on my Note 2’s 5.5-inch screen. Decromancer can also be played in portrait mode, but this just accentuates this issue as well as the fact that some of the menu buttons scale to the resolution rather than just repositioned. This would definitely be better on a tablet, though it’s still a bit weird. There are also a number of bugs that I encountered while playing the game, though UNIT9 has put out updates since I reviewed the game so it’s likely that some of these issues have been ironed out already.

Overall, I enjoyed Decromancer quite a lot. You may need to be more of a fan of turn-based strategy games and be prepared to be a little patient, but Decromancer offers card game fans something that isn’t readily availableÂ on AndroidÂ and I thoroughly recommend checking it out. Decromancer is available on the Google Play Store now for the uncompromising price of free, so you have no reason not to at least check it out and see what I’m raving about.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2013/12/21/decromancer-review-deck-building-card-game-comes-android/feed/0Camera 2 by JFDP Labs: A Nifty Camera And Video App For The Filter Madhttp://androidspin.com/2013/12/13/camera-2-jfdp-labs-nifty-camera-video-app-filter-mad/
http://androidspin.com/2013/12/13/camera-2-jfdp-labs-nifty-camera-video-app-filter-mad/#respondFri, 13 Dec 2013 23:58:01 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=122187For some of you, the name JFDP Labs will ring a bell; the English developer outfit has previously made camera and photo-editing apps like Paper Camera and Paper Artist, apps which allowed you to overlay the photos you were about to take or already taken with both unique and familar filters. JFDP Labs has released […]

For some of you, the name JFDP Labs will ring a bell; the English developer outfit has previously made camera and photo-editing apps like Paper Camera and Paper Artist, apps which allowed you to overlay the photos you were about to take or already taken with both unique and familar filters. JFDP Labs has released their next iteration of their camera app, called Camera 2, and does away with the cartoony user-interface of Paper Camera and replaces it with a much more traditional camera overlay. While Camera 2 will still allow you to take pictures with filters overlaid, the new app now also has the ability to apply filters to previously taken photos, even those not taken with Camera 2.

In Camera 2, the filters are now grouped into categories, in which there will be multiple filters to choose from. Selecting a category will bring up all the filters at the same time on your screen which can look a bit overwhelming at first, but it does give you a good idea of what your photo will look like. To select a filter, all you need to do is touch it and it will be overlaid on your view. The nifty thing is that if you don’t like the filter you’ve chosen, but you think you’re in the right category of filters, you can scroll through the other filters in that category simply by swiping left to right. Here are some of the results you can get with Camera 2:

One really great feature in Camera 2 is the ability to save the original photo without the filter applied. With the added ability to add filters after it’s been taken, this allows you to continue applying different filters if you didn’t get it quite right the first time. Don’t let Camera 2’s name deceive you either; Camera 2 is not only able to use its filters for photos, but videos as well. As far as I can see though, the ability to add filters in post isn’t available to videos, but JFDP Labs have told me they are working on this feature for a future update.but taking videos with filters is a nice touch in itself.

Camera 2 is a great camera app and a huge improvement over Paper Camera. The added ability to add filters to existing photos is a great touch and the even larger library of filters should keep Instagrammers happy. Camera 2 even has the ability to apply tilt-shift-like effects, much like Instagram can as well, except with full resolution photos. In short, Camera 2 will be loved by people who frequent Instagram, and for everyone, it gives you the chance to add some really cool effects to photos and videos that you might otherwise have to spend hours at a computer to achieve.Â Camera 2 is available now on the Google Play Store for $2.99, which is a small price to pay if you’re a filter crazed photographer.

]]>http://androidspin.com/2013/12/13/camera-2-jfdp-labs-nifty-camera-video-app-filter-mad/feed/0Even Up Review: A Simple, Yet Incredibly Addictive Numbers Gamehttp://androidspin.com/2013/11/25/even-review-simple-yet-incredibly-addictive-numbers-game/
http://androidspin.com/2013/11/25/even-review-simple-yet-incredibly-addictive-numbers-game/#respondMon, 25 Nov 2013 09:35:26 +0000http://androidspin.com/?p=119016You’d think by now that we’d have seen every puzzle game involving numbers that could ever have been conceived. Not so, says Simple Machine, who, using Sudoku as the inspiration, has made a new gameÂ on Android called Even Up that uses numbers in its own unique and addictive way. Let’s check it out. The premise […]

You’d think by now that we’d have seen every puzzle game involving numbers that could ever have been conceived. Not so, says Simple Machine, who, using Sudoku as the inspiration, has made a new gameÂ on Android called Even Up that uses numbers in its own unique and addictive way. Let’s check it out.

The premise

The premise of Even Up is incredibly simple: slide a number to another of the same value and the resulting number will be one higher than the number you had before. For example, if you had two squares of value 3, sliding one into the other would result in a square with value 4. With the added restriction of only being able to slide squares in one chosen direction only, this makes Even Up pretty challenging and tricky game, one which gives you a sense of accomplishment when you finish levels.

The gameplay

Even Up is split into 5 difficulty levels, with the higher difficulties unlocked when you have completed enough stars. You are awarded one star for each level you complete and there are 25 levels per difficulty, so you’ll have to become somewhat proficient at the game before progressing to the higher levels.

The first few levels of the Beginner difficulty serve as a very good tutorial to the gameplay in Even Up, but before long you’ll be looking for more challenging puzzles. The thing about Even Up I love is that the core mechanic of the game is so simple, yet you can still get such intricate and varied puzzles which can take minutes to solve or sometimes significantly longer. To complete all 125 levels available in Even Up is a pretty big task and the game will definitely last even the best minds a few hours.

To be honest, the differences between the difficulties isn’t so great that you will be struggling to complete them once you’re competent, but what it does do is encourage you to think a lot more about the moves you make and the consequences that will result. To make this lesson a little easier to swallow, Even Up utilizes an ‘Undo’ button which will let you undo as many consecutive moves as you wish and believe me, you will be using this button a lot.

This makes Even Up incredibly addictive as its both challenging and good practice in problem solving. I’ve already wasted plenty of time getting through the levels just to see what else the game can do to make itself harder, only to feel very accomplished when beating levels.

In addition to playing levels, you also have the option of creating and sharing levels which is a really nice extra feature if you’re into creating puzzles or just want to be devious and challenge your friends.

The presentation

Even Up is a very pleasant looking game. The combination of a simple background with a simple interface makes the game very slick. All transitions between menus and windows are simple and smooth as is the gameplay itself. At no point did I think the game was struggling to run which is perfect, particularly as you

There are sound effects in Even Up as well and while they only come up when you make moves, they’re just the right sort of sound not to irritate too much when played over and over again. I’d even go as far as to say the sounds in the game are the perfect sort of sounds for this kind of game as they simply indicate that something has happened in game and let you focus your attention on solving the puzzle at hand instead.

Unfortunately, apart from the ‘Share’ feature from the main menu, there are no social aspects in Even Up to speak of, which in my opinion is a great shame. To have a leaderboard which records to time of your first attempt at each level would be a great feature and gloating tool to have, and the ability to record a video of your solution to the puzzle would be nice too.

The verdict

Rating: 5/5

Despite my minor reservations, Even Up is a fantastic game: simple, challenging and addictive, there are few games on the Play Store that offer such simplistic yet thought-provoking puzzle gameplay. The game does cost $0.99, but that’s a small price to pay for what I think is one of the better puzzles games on the Play Store right now. If you’re interested in giving it a go, hit the Play Store links below.